


Family Photo

by One-Mysterious-Gal (Galactics_SinBin)



Category: Mystery Skulls Animated
Genre: Depression, Family, Lance just misses his kids, No graphic mentions but Arthur's arm is gone, Other, Pre-Hellbent, i use lots of italics
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-13
Updated: 2019-05-13
Packaged: 2020-03-02 09:38:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,682
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18808552
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Galactics_SinBin/pseuds/One-Mysterious-Gal
Summary: The house was miserably quiet.No sound of machinery in the workshop in the back of the home. No sound of the door flying open, an excitable young woman barreling up the stairs to the bedroom where his nephew was no doubt expecting her and her canine sidekick. Another day, another case for those kids to get into...Not even the sound of a polite knock at the door, that gentle giant of a young man who always came to pick Arthur up for another outing for the little group.Then again, when had all of them stopped holding their breath for that to ever happen again?





	Family Photo

**Author's Note:**

> So there's hardly anything for Lance Kingsmen in this fandom and I just wanted to give this wonderful uncle some attention! It started as a little drabble and kinda went from there, but I'm happy where it went! Just. Plenty of sad to go around. 
> 
> Please enjoy!

The house was miserably quiet. 

No sound of machinery in the workshop in the back of the home. No sound of the door flying open, an excitable young woman barreling up the stairs to the bedroom where his nephew was no doubt expecting her and her canine sidekick. Another day, another case for those kids to get into... 

Not even the sound of a polite knock at the door, that gentle giant of a young man who always came to pick Arthur up for another outing for the little group. 

_Then again, when had all of them stopped holding their breath for that to ever happen again?_

From his armchair, Lance glanced up towards the clock. Had Arthur even left his room today? It was common for the poor boy to get lost in his tinkering and gadgets, but here lately... Well, it seemed the little conversations they had were becoming few and far between. Ever since that night he had gotten that call. That damned call, at around one in the ever-loving morning, where he was told his nephew's arm was lost in some freak caving incident. 

Arthur had changed. 

The doctors had told Lance it would take adjustment. He had been through a lot, after all, and his uncle could absolutely understand needing some space to come to terms with everything. They sent him home with some crummy prosthetic Arthur grumbled about upgrading as soon as he could. It was only later that he had learned it could only get worse. 

The brilliant young woman Arthur had come to adore so much, Vivi Yukino had experienced some kind of head trauma in this cave his nephew had been prattling on about for months. She couldn't remember a thing... Not even the third part of the iconic Mystery Skulls trio. Lewis Pepper, a gentle-hearted young man who worked at his parents restaurant when he wasn't keeping the small group out of trouble with those odd investigations they were always running around on. 

No one had even seen _him_ in months. It seemed the boy had disappeared, along with that cave. 

Police and Lewis's parents eventually accepted the worse. 

_His nephew, however...._

With just a little difficulty, he pushed himself up from his chair, making his way to the kitchen. Surely, he could somehow bribe the boy out of his bedroom for an hour or two, right? Staring at a laptop screen, chasing something that wasn't even there to find... It wasn't healthy. Running a hand through his beard, Lance considered the options. 

There was always that god-awful pizza that kid somehow enjoyed. The pizza place practically knew the small house on the edge of town by heart by now... Maybe he could lure his nephew out of his bedroom for just a little while. To see him eat, to maybe finally talk some sense into him...

So, with a defeated sigh, Lance reached for his phone, dialing that *unfortunately* familiar phone number Arthur had saved on his phone. 

"Aye, I'd like ta place an order fer onea' your.... Surf's Up pizzas...?"

 

An hour later, and finally the cheesy, greasy... oyster-y meal had arrived. Simply walking through the house with it made the gruff mechanic's nose hairs curl, a sour look on his face as he trudged up the stairs. Past the dozens of pictures of Arthur, his wide yet nervous smile standing out in every photo. He couldn't help but pause mid-way, casting a side-eyed glance towards one in particular. 

The three 'investigators'. That's what they had called themselves. It had been the day Arthur re-painted that old van he remembered giving to the lad as a birthday present. Lewis was standing beside the van, his large arms wrapped tightly around Vivi and Arthur's shoulders as they posed for a picture, that wide smile on his face. Vivi, practically a blue blur at the side of the camera, her arm hooked around Arthur's waist as she did some silly little pose. And Mystery... that rather odd dog she had glued to her hip seemed to even smile. 

He remembered taking that photo clearly. How Arthur groaned about his arm afterwards, and Lewis apologizing profusely. How all three of them took it out that very night for a test drive. 

He couldn't recall the time he last saw Arthur smile like that. 

Lance never quite understood the whole... skulls and ghosts motif they had. Especially considering how downright cowardly his nephew could be at times. Yet... every other night, it seemed. That boy was out running around. Allowing himself to be put in the most dangerous, frightening situations. All to spend time with those two kids. 

Those two wonderful kids, that made Arthur happier than anything... 

His grip tightened on the greasy box in his hands, striding up the stairs without so much as a glance back at that photo. His eyes must have been goin on him already, it seemed as though everything was growing blurrier the longer he looked at the damn thing. 

Rapping his knuckles on that old bedroom door, Lance cleared his throat.

_"Art? Ya in there, lad....?"_

Silence, but there was definitely the sound of a keyboard from somewhere in the bedroom. For a moment, he almost thought he heard those busy fingers hesitate. 

_"Artie.... buddy, come on, I got ya some of that... pizza ya like so much. How about ya come and sit with me fer a minute or two...?"_

The sound of shuffling followed this time at least. Lance's head perked up slightly, a small grin on his lips as he heard dragging footsteps to the bedroom door. That smile faded the moment he saw the state the man was in. 

Arthur Kingsmen stood before him, his eyes glazed over and hollow as he peered down at his dear uncle. The bags under his eyes looked heavy, dark. When was the last time this kid had eaten...? His hair he took such proper care of was an absolute mess, sticking out in odd places, clearly unwashed. Lance certainly didn't want to know for how long. 

After a long moment, he realized he was staring. Clearing his throat, he offered the box, doing his absolute best to keep a stern face. 

"Arthur, come on, I'll even try it if ya like... Jus' come on and get outta yer room for an hour or two?" 

"I thought ya wanted me to step out for a minute or two, Lance...." Even his voice felt heavy on his uncle's shoulders. This kid had to have stayed up all night, yet again... 

"Well. Well, an hour or two would be better fer ya! Look at ya boy, you're a mess!" Lance sighed quietly, looking him over. 

"I need.... To find. Lewis." Arthur palmed his eye with his mechanical hand, groaning quietly and working his fingers at the throbbing that followed. That laptop screen wasn't easy to focus on for hours... days at a time, after all. 

"Artie..." The tone came over just a tad more chastising than he would have liked. Clearly, the other noticed as well, visibly tensing. Lance took a deep breath, fidgeting with the box in his hands. 

"Arthur.... Maybe... maybe ya ought-"

Suddenly, the weight was gone from his hands, and Lance raised his eyes to meet amber ones, just like his own. Though the ones mirrored back at him... were so tired. So... desperate.

"Thanks, Uncle Lance.... Good night...." 

And with that, the door quietly shut. Followed by the soft clicking of a lock. 

For a couple of moments, Lance could only stand there. Blinking as absolute shock washed over him. Arthur had never once turned his back on him like that. Never once turned his head to any advice. 

In the next moment, he was seeing red. His lip curling as a low growl reverberated in his chest, he spun around to storm towards the stairs. Perhaps he was a little heavier-footed to make certain his nephew heard the rage bubbling within him. Perhaps he hoped it would somehow convince the boy to finally show his face to the man who had bent over *backwards* for his every need ever since he had left home with his parents.

**How inconsiderate and disrespectful-**

As he stomped down the stairway, his eyes caught that familiar frame once more. That head of magenta locks, those wide blue eyes beaming at him? All they had done for his Arthur was make him break himself! It was their fault! Their fault they had to go to that damned cave, wherever the hell it might be! 

Before he could even consider the consequences, his fingers curled around the wooden frame, yanking it, and most definitely the nail from the wall. 

Then it was airborne, shattering upon contact with the wall on the opposite of the room, just narrowly missing that family photo. 

For a long minute, Lance huffed on the stairwell, glaring down at that perfect photo. Those gentle smiles, those brilliant kids- 

His snarl fell, eyes widening in panic. 

_What the hell had he just done!?_

Scrambling down the stairs, he almost tripped on the last one as he lurched towards that precious photo. Among scattered glass and a now snapped frame, those smiling faces weren't harmed. Lewis, smile as soft as ever, beamed up at him. Arthur... while clearly in the midst of a laugh, was perfectly intact. Vivi, even with her tongue stuck out at the one who took the photo, was just as happy as ever. 

With a soft, defeated sigh, Lance slipped the photo from the broken glass, tossing the frame aside. He would have to find a new one to put it in... but at least he hadn't ripped it. For a long moment, his eyes glanced over them. 

His crew of crazies. Happy and as naive as ever, but they were happy. And they were together. 

"Lew, bud.... I don't know where ya are..." His eyes glanced overhead, where he was almost certain he heard his nephew settling back down at his desk. 

"Please... just come home and let the boy rest...."


End file.
